Saturday, December 31, 2022

Sam’s Saturday 9: The Last Song

Saturday 9: The Last Song (1972)

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

This is the last Saturday 9 song of 2022.
Thanks for another great year.

1) In this song, the lead singer admits he leaves the light on when he goes to sleep. Do you leave any lights on in your bedroom? Or do you prefer it completely dark?

I prefer as dark as a new moon but unfortunately all the digital stuff glows and it more like a full moon.

2) He sings that he can't stop wondering where his old girlfriend is. Do you know whatever happened to any of your exes?

A few, the ones from my high school that I dated I know their families and I’m friends with one on Facebook.

3) He says this is the last song he'll ever sing to his girl. What's the last song you sang? Where were you when you sang it?

Ha! it was so long ago that I have no idea.

4) Edward Bear was a Canadian group who took their name from Winnie the Pooh. As written by A. A. Milne, Edward Bear was Pooh's "proper" name. Pooh's favorite food was honey. Is there a food you can't get enough of?

Well. Any long time reader of Saturday 9 knows that answer… Lobster! 

5) In 1972, when this song was popular, Disney's Winnie the Pooh was quite a celebrity in his own right, appearing on the cover the 1972 Sears Christmas Wish Book. That year, kids asked Santa for plush Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. Did you have many plush toys as a child? If yes, do you still have any of them?

A teddy bear. This is another “Ha!” that would have been from 70 years ago! I remember that I did an autopsy on him to get the squeak box out of him.

6) Enough about 1972! Let's look back on 2022. What's something you learned or rediscovered in 2022?

Good question! I don’t know, I learned a lot of new things everyday. I read science articles all the time. The latest is… "Quantum experiments with entangled photons win the 2022 Nobel Prize in physics".

Or how about this,


7) Can you think of a moment in 2022 you'd like to do over?

Not really maybe some more sunsets to photograph.

8) What are you looking forward to most in 2023?

Making it to 2024!

9) Random question: Who received the last email you sent?

To my brother, chastising him for not drinking enough water.


Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

Top Posts Of 2022

 At first I was going to title the post as “The Top Ten Post of 2022” then it was “The Top Fifteen Post 2022” but I kept getting more great post of 2022, so here at my top posts for the year…

It turn out that the top post wasn’t about trans stuff or even politics but rather clam chowder, coming in as number one is Clam Chowder with a 180 hits!

Followed by...

  1. You’ve Been Canceled!  – 166 
  2. My Story Part 186: The Night That We Didn't Get Served.  – 160 
  3. My Story Part 194: Diana’s Excellent Adventure [New]  – 155 
  4. Fantasia Fair Day 0 – 154 (All of the Fan Fair posts had a good number of page visits)
  5. Texas Update – 146
  6. Sad, Sad, Sad News  – 146
  7. I Just Started To Hear The Word Influencer and I Realized We Have One In The Trans Community – 139 (Amy Schneider)
  8. The Purging Has Begun! – 139
  9. The Fruits Of This Weekend – 136 (Photography)
  10. Drag Queens – 133 
  11. Did You Know In Connecticut You Can Get Electrolysis Covered – 132
  12. Trans Myth Busters – 125
  13. You Only Have One Choice Today – 124
  14. A New World Record Has Been Set – 124
  15. I Am Concerned That They Will Be Blinded By His Celebrity Status – 123
  16. A Farewell To Amy – 122 (Amy Schneider)
  17. My Story Part 185: Makeup [Reprint from November 24, 2021] – 121
A weekly hit are the Saturday 9 posts which are consistently around a hundred hits each week. 

Friday, December 30, 2022

Unbeknownst To Me…

The library book that I borrowed is by a trans author! The book was the Nebula Award Nominee for Middle Grade and Young Adult (Andre Norton Award) (2021), Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel (2022), Lodestar Award Nominee (2022)

She is the second author who I found out was trans. One I know of from real life she wrote a blog on Connecticut politics and is a Science Fiction author.

Her book “Victories Greater Than Death” 

Tina never worries about being ‘ordinary’—she doesn’t have to, since she’s known practically forever that she’s not just Tina Mains, average teenager and beloved daughter. She’s also the keeper of an interplanetary rescue beacon, and one day soon, it’s going to activate, and then her dreams of saving all the worlds and adventuring among the stars will finally be possible. Tina’s legacy, after all, is intergalactic—she is the hidden clone of a famed alien hero, left on Earth disguised as a human to give the universe another chance to defeat a terrible evil.

But when the beacon activates, it turns out that Tina’s destiny isn’t quite what she expected. Things are far more dangerous than she ever assumed. Luckily, Tina is surrounded by a crew she can trust, and her best friend Rachael, and she is still determined to save all the worlds. But first she’ll have to save herself.

Tor Books said,

For everyone who is or was a queer kid dreaming of a destiny in the stars, a place more welcoming and wondrous than here—this book is for you. 

In award-winning SFF writer Charlie Jane Anders’ YA debut, Tina Mains has always been destined for Victories Greater Than Death. Though she’s spent her seventeen years living like a fairly average white girl earthling, she’s actually a secret clone of the late Captain Argentian, a celebrated alien hero. She’s been living in wait for the sparkling beacon in her chest to call upon her to join the Royal Fleet and save the worlds.

[...]

Victories Greater Than Death is a rollicking, joyous love letter to QTPOC nerds, especially those of us with anxiety, and who are figuring out how to feel at home in our own bodies. At last, at last, we get to have fun space adventures too. This is space opera at its brightest and most hopeful, even as it wrests with terrifyingly believable villains. 

There are many trans authors including: Kate Bornstein, Jennifer Finney Boylan, Julia Serano, Susan Stryker and non-binary Leslie Feinberg, and over 40 authors are listed on the web. There are also a number of trans SiFi and Fantasy authors including: RykaA Aoki, Susan Jane Bigelow, and S. Qiouyi Lu.

So that is what I was doing all week, listening to “Victories Greater Than Death” so I can get the second book in series before the new month because you are limited in the number of books you can take out from the library each month.

Little Women

I never read it but I just found an interesting article in the New York Times… was Louisa May Alcott trans?

Did the Mother of Young Adult Literature Identify as a Man?
By Peyton Thomas
December 24, 2022


Louisa May Alcott balked when her editor asked her to write a book for girls. “Never liked girls or knew many,” she journaled, “except my sisters.”

Sisters were all it took. Alcott’s semiautobiographical “Little Women,” which follows a family of four girls through the Civil War, made her a fortune upon publication in 1868. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy have become immortal. They’ve captivated readers around the world in 50 translations and numerous adaptations. Louisa May Alcott may never have liked girls or known many, but her name is now synonymous with girlhood.

It’s a name that she didn’t use all that often in her personal life. To family and friends, she was Lou, Lu or Louy. She wrote of herself as the “papa” or “father” of her young nephews. Her father, Bronson, once called Alcott his “only son.” In letters to her close friend Alfie Whitman, Alcott called herself “a man of all work” and “a gentleman at large.”

All this leads me to wonder: Is Alcott best understood as a trans man?

Whoa… what is this?

She was trans??????

Alcott scholars agree that she felt a profound affinity with manhood. “I am certain that Alcott never fit a binary sex-gender model,” said Gregory Eiselein, a professor at Kansas State University and the president of the Louisa May Alcott Society. In “Eden’s Outcasts,” his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Alcott, John Matteson wrote that she believed “she should have been born a boy.” Jan Susina, a professor of children’s literature, concurred, saying, “Alcott may have experienced what we today would consider gender dysphoria.”

It is hard to put twenty-second century labels on a nineteenth century person.

So is it inappropriate — anachronistic at best, misogynistic at worst — to describe Alcott as transgender?

I believe Alcott’s own statements give the lie to the notion that transgender identity is strictly a modern fad. “The historical record shows that people have felt in remarkably similar ways to contemporary transgender people,” said Susan Stryker, a professor emerita of gender and women’s studies at the University of Arizona. What’s more, Alcott is a pertinent figure at a moment when trans books for youth are under attack from legislatures and school boards. What would it mean if the mother of young adult literature was actually the genre’s father?

So what do I think?

I think we cannot put twenty-second century ideas on people from earlier times, there were too many variables. Take Joan of Arc, she dressed in male clothes does that mean she was trans? What about women who joined the military disguised as a man, did they just do it because they were trans? Or was it because they wanted to serve in the military? Or did they do it because there were no options for women except to bear children and raising them?

It is a neat theory but that is all it is, a theory. What do you think? Was Louisa May Alcott trans? A lesbian or straight?

Thursday, December 29, 2022

My Old Stumping Grounds, Rochester NY

A new poll finds that half of us feel the we could be targets of a violent crime because we’re LGBTQ+



In the early seventies I went to college there and I was deep in the closet back then, a lot of national anti-LGBTQ+ was going on back then, there was Anita Bryant’s Save the Children campaign and the government purge of “gays” in government office. It was the height of the Lavender Scary and besides I could stop if I meet the right girl. So it was with a little surprise when I read this.

New poll finds about half of Rochester's LGBTQ community feels at risk of attack
The data is the latest from the Levine Center to End Hate's 'State of Hate"' survey, which polled people in the nine-county metro area.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
By Justin Murphy
December 28, 2022


Nearly half of LGBTQ people in the Rochester area feel at risk of verbal or physical attacks, according to recently released survey data.

According to the data:

  • 50% of LGBTQ people fear a verbal attack and 45% fear a physical attack
  • 63% know of a specific instance of discrimination, and 50% have witnessed one themselves
  • 50% believe discrimination against LGBTQ people is problem and 32% say it has worsened in the last few years; among non-LGBTQ people, 8% believe it is a problem and 16% believe it has worsened

"We know that words can turn deadly, as we saw with the horrific mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs last month,” Karen Elam, the Levine Center's executive director, said in a statement. “We are continuing to find that the responses to our survey underscore the fear that members of minority groups in our community are feeling.”

[…]

She also noted that people of color who are LGBTQ are more likely to face discrimination than their white counterparts. One national poll from 2020, for example, showed that 68% of LGBTQ people of color reported negative or discriminatory treatment from a health care provider compared to 27% of white LGBTQ people.

That is what bias crimes do, make you fear going out and being yourself. It makes you afraid of any public display of affection. Trans people who are easily identified as trans worry about the reaction of others in their daily lives.

"When we walk out our doors, we’re just like anyone else," she said. "We just want to live our lives and not have to worry about whether we’re coming back home."

People talk about bias crimes, Club Q is an example of how a bias crime doesn’t just affect the individuals directly involved in the attack but also the whole community.

Standing Up To Tyranny

The Florida bills that are meant to oppress us just got so powerful opponents.

18 Attorneys General Challenge 'Don't Say Gay' Law in Amicus Brief
The attorneys general say that the Florida law is unconstitutional.
The Advocate
By Alex Cooper
December 27, 2022


Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced a coalition of 18 attorneys general that are opposing Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act — also known as the “don’t say gay” law.

Racine’s office said in a press release late last week that the law posed a threat to LGBTQ+ students, emphasizing that they are at particular risk and harm to discrimination.

“My office has a strong track record of fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in the District and across the country to make sure that everyone can simply be who they are and love who they love,” Racine said. “Florida’s law offers no benefit to anyone and in fact puts children and families in harm’s way. We will continue to use all of our authority to help strike down this law and any other hateful, discriminatory policies that threaten people’s fundamental freedoms.”

In an amicus brief submitted in support of a lawsuit brought by several Florida families, the attorneys general state that the law, “are far outside the bounds of ordinary educational decision-making,” adding that its “outlier” status further indicates it is “constitutionally suspect.”

[…]

The families’ lawsuit, which was filed only days after the bill was signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in March, argues that the legislation violates Due Process and Equal Protection, as well as First Amendment free speech rights. The suit also raises questions about how the law will change in-classroom discussions and school functions. Already, many teachers and school district officials have voiced uncertainty about what goes against the law and what doesn’t.

I’m not a lawyer but I don’t think it takes a genius that it is a violation of the First Amendment when you tell someone they can say something and tell another that they can say it.

A straight can have a picture of their spouse on their desk but a LGBTQ can’t have a picture of their spouse would surely be a First Amendment issues and probably a Fourteenth Amendment also.

“The law is causing significant harms to students, parents, teachers, and other states. Non-inclusive educational environments have severe negative health impacts on LGBTQ+ students, resulting in increased rates of mental health disorders and suicide attempts,” the release said. “These harms extend to youth not just in Florida, but throughout the country.”

And Connecticut Attorney General William Tong was one of the co-writers of the brief.

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Hate Crimes In New Hampshire

Even in rural Live Free or Die state hate crimes are increase, it seems like they want to live free and for us to die.

NH reported an uptick in hate crimes in 2021. Here's look at FBI data.
Seacoast Online
By Todd Bookman New Hampshire Public Radio
December 23, 2022


New Hampshire law enforcement documented 34 hate crimes in 2021, a jump from 19 reported hate crimes the previous year, according to newly released data from the FBI.

Of the hate crimes reported, 16 incidents involved destruction of property or vandalism, while 13 involved intimidation. Nearly half of the targets of the crimes were Black residents, while eight reported crimes were motivated by religion, and seven by sexual orientation, according to the dataset.

The figures, released last week, do not detail individual incidents, but they do provide a breakdown of incidents by reporting agency.

The FBI defines hate crimes as violent criminal acts against a person or property that are motivated by bias against a race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity.

[...]

In New Hampshire, 208 law enforcement agencies out of 220 submitted data for 2021 into the new National Incident-Based Reporting System, which collects more information about each crime than a previous system. In the year prior, 193 of 210 agencies participated, according to the FBI’s online database.

In today’s climate where restraint went out the window with Trump bias crimes* increased during and after his tenure with no end in sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~

But there is a problem with the data, it seems like the conservatives don’t like reporting bad news.

Latest FBI data on hate crimes plagued by lack of reporting nationwide
The number of local police agencies that reported crime data to the federal government under a new system fell significantly, skewing 2021 hate-crime statistics
Washington Post
By David Nakamura
December 12, 2022


The FBI released data Monday that showed a drop in hate crimes nationally in 2021, but the annual effort to monitor bias attacks was undercut by a major decline in the number of local law enforcement agencies that reported their totals.

The federal agency compiled reports of 7,262 criminal cases motivated by race, religion, sexual orientation or other factors last year, according to the report, down from 8,263 in 2020, a figure that represented the most in two decades.

Thousands of jurisdictions failed to report crime data under the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), which federal authorities have phased into operation since 2016 in hopes of gaining more granular crime data. This year, the FBI moved to a NIBRS-only reporting system, and 11,883 of 18,812 law enforcement agencies submitted data that was included in the hate-crimes report, authorities said.

[…]

“Especially at a time when our communities are feeling particularly vulnerable to hate crimes and extremist-fueled attacks, it is egregious that major cities and states across the country have failed to report comprehensive data for 2021,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League. “We urge Congress to make it mandatory for state and local law enforcement agencies that receive federal funding to participate in the FBI’s hate crime data collection efforts.”

No news is good when you don’t want the bad news to get out.

We see the same thing with bullying here in Connecticut, the law requires towns to report bullying incidents but a lot of towns report “zero” incidents… yeah, right!


* Bias Crimes: most people do not understand what a bias-crime or a hate-crime is.

Name calling; using a racial, ethnic, or other slur to identify someone; or using degrading language is not a bias-crime, they are protected by the First Amendment rights.

While assaulting, injuring, or even touching someone in an offensive manner because of their perceived protected class. Creating racist or derogatory graffiti on someone else’s property based on their perceived protected class. Threatening to physically harm a person, their family, or their property based on their perceived protected class are all bias-crimes.

Bottom line: if it is just words without any type of threats or assaults it does not constitute a crime. 

Do You Remember The Republican Slogan…

[Editorial]

“Get government off our backs” that was President Reagan campaign slogan back in 1980, the Republicans have done an 180 degree turn. The Christian Science Monitor wrote back in 1980.

We must "get the government off the backs of the people," declared Ronald Reagan during the presidential campaign, building on the common belief that the Democrats favor active government and the Republicans private initiative.

Well now the Republicans are saying let’s control Wall Street and how you invest your money!

GOP’s `anti-woke' crusade splits corporate America
Giant asset managers are finding few friends in Washington as GOP lawmakers attack them for their climate and social agendas.
Politico
By Zachary Warmbrodt
December 27, 2022


Republican lawmakers are vowing to crack down on big investment managers pushing climate and social agendas. But the Wall Street giants are finding they have few defenders in Washington to help fend off the assault.

The multitrillion-dollar asset managers — primarily BlackRock and its outspoken CEO Larry Fink, Vanguard and State Street — aren’t getting cover from major business trade groups whose members are divided on the issue. And they have no Republican allies, according to interviews with nearly a dozen industry representatives, lawmakers and climate advocates.

Some industry players feeling the heat are privately agitating for a more unified front against the attacks. But Republicans leading what they call the “anti-woke” charge in Congress said they’re feeling little resistance from business lobbying groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The GOP lawmakers say they have growing evidence that their effort is getting traction, with Vanguard walking away from an international climate change group in December.

“There is a fight within the banks and within the asset management firms about this,” Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), one of the pressure campaign’s top voices on Capitol Hill, said. “I am observing conflicting messages from within these companies, and what I’m asking is for these banks and asset managers to purge these people who want to bring their politics into the operations of these businesses.”

So now the Republicans want to tell where individual investors can invest their money… that sure doen’t sound like “getting the government off our backs” that sounds like they are getting government in your face!

In Washington, House Republicans who will be in the majority next year are eyeing hearings and a suite of bills to pressure the investment firms.

The asset managers “do have a very defensible case as to why they should be considering climate and sustainability risk in investing practices,” said Sierra Club campaign director Ben Cushing, who advocates for financial firms to stop backing fossil fuel projects. “They didn’t do a very good job of just explaining that, and they’re allowing themselves to be bullied by these bad-faith political attacks.”

The Republicans screams capitalism except when it doesn't suit their agenda, then corporations are some how bad all of a sudden!

Down in Florida DeSantis and the Republicans pushed through a law that is called in the press, Stop WOKE law!
How Florida’s Stop WOKE Act could impose a chilling effect on diversity efforts in the workplace
Fortune
By Amiah Taylor
May 3, 2022


Florida is the first state in the nation to officially restrict how workplaces can discuss racism and bias.

Republican governor Ron DeSantis signed into law the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act, or Stop WOKE Act— a bill that regulates how schools and employers can talk about race and gender—on April 22. 

“We believe an important component of freedom in the state of Florida is the freedom from having oppressive ideologies imposed upon you without your consent,” DeSantis said at the bill signing event at Mater Academy Charter Middle/High School in Hialeah Gardens last month. “Whether it be in the classroom or whether it be in the workplace, we decided to do something about it.”

How in your face is that! So far the courts have said “Whoa! That violates the First Amendment!” funny how the Republicans are always holding up their little copy of the Constitution but they don’t like something they ignore it.

The Republicans were gun-ho on referendums “Let the people decide!” until they lost…

How Republicans are trying to block voters from having a say on abortion
Ballot initiatives have proven a winning strategy for abortion rights activists – but Ohio Republicans want to make it harder for voters
The Guardian
By Poppy Noor
December 19, 2022


Ohio advocates hoping to replicate a string of abortion rights victories fear being stymied by Republican lawmakers who are attempting to make it harder to pass citizen-initiated constitutional amendments.

Ballot initiatives put directly to voters have proven a winning strategy for abortion rights activists since Roe v Wade was overturned this summer, with six referendums delivering favorable results for pro-choice advocates.

In Ohio, Republicans want to bring their own legislation, raising the threshold for successful ballot initiatives to 60%, up from the simple majority currently required to amend the state constitution.

“The instinct from conservative lawmakers to make it harder for their voters to decide on the core issues that matter to them most is fundamentally an assault on voting rights,” says Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, an organization that supports progressive ballot initiatives in red and purple states. “Those lawmakers know their ideological views are out of sync with their voters [and] they are trying to change the rules of the game.”

Once again when it doesn’t go the Republican way they want to change the rules.

They are in women’s faces with abortion getting you and your doctor!

They are in trans children’s faces on medically necessary healthcare!

They are in children’s faces over what they can and cannot read!

The new Republican motto… “Government in your face!”

[/Editorial]

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Caught My Eye.

I was scanning Yahoo News when I ran across an article on an interview in Glamor with Amy Schneider the Jeopardy champion and one question caught my eye…

You’ve consistently used your platform to champion transgender rights. Earlier this month, you took a break from Jeopardy-posting to testify against SB454 in Ohio while the tournament was airing. Could you talk a little bit about that experience and what’s it like to have assumed the role of activist?

I was disappointed. I didn't want to take the focus away from the Tournament of Champions, but when hearing what was happening, that’s what I had to do. One thing about being trans is that by existing you are sort of an activist. By refusing to hide yourself, it’s an act of activism to leave your home. It’s something that you’re already, to some extent, comfortable with. And it’s been so discouraging these last few years to see these backlash bills coming along. People targeting children who can’t fight back to score these political points and really putting children in danger. Children will die as a result of these policies. I know trans kids in Ohio. I had to do something to try and fight for them.

Yup. That is how I became an activists.

Lets Go After The Messenger.

So in the morning look at the Yahoo News there was an article on Fox about Dr. Rachel Levine how she criticized the Republican assault on trans healthcare.

Rachel Levine ripped for demanding censorship of 'misinformation' on 'gender-affirming care' for kids
Twitter users called the Biden HHS official's remarks 'evil' and an example of 'fascism'
By Gabriel Hays
December 27, 2022


Conservatives on Twitter blasted a recently surfaced video of the Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine calling on Big Tech companies to censor "misinformation" about "gender-affirming care" for kids on the internet.

Levine, a transgender woman, made the statements in May, though the video gained newfound attention on Twitter just after Christmas. Prominent Twitter users expressed horror that a government official was asking tech companies to censor content disputing that gender-affirming care for youth is a thing of "positive value."

Whoa! What is this? So I searched Google News for anything unbiased about it, these are the headlines that came up in the search…

Washington Times:

Dr. Rachel Levine slammed after calling for Big Tech to clean up ‘misinformation’ on sex change

National Review:

Misinformation in Health Care

New York Post:

American kids are in the grip of a gender contagion

Okay those are the only headlines that I could find, nothing by any neutral news media outlets. Fox News and the New York Post are owned by Rupert Murdoch, the National Review is a far right conservative news magazine that was founded by William F. Buckley Jr and the Washington Times is owned by a right-wing News World Communications, an international media conglomerate founded by  Sun Myung Moon.

Notice how the National Review calls the:

  •  American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • American Academy of Dermatology
  • American Academy of Family Physicians
  • American Academy of Nursing
  • American Academy of Pediatrics
  • American Academy of Physician Assistants
  • American College Health Association
  • American College of Nurse-Midwives
  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
  • American College of Physicians
  • American Counseling Association
  • American Heart Association
  • American Medical Association
  • American Medical Student Association
  • American Nurses Association
  • American Osteopathic Association
  • American Psychiatric Association
  • American Psychological Association
  • American Public Health Association
  • American Society of Plastic Surgeons
  • Endocrine Society
  • GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality
  • National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health
  • National Association of Social Workers
  • National Commission on Correctional Health Care
  • Pediatric Endocrine Society
  • Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
  • World Medical Association
  • World Professional Association for Transgender Health

Misinformation.

This is how the right-wing media works, if you only read these media outlets then the only thing you would know are the lies that they push.

The Fox article goes on to say,

Levine then claimed that the country is "facing an onslaught of anti-LGBTQI+ actions at the state levels across the United States," adding, "They are dangerous to the public health."

Levine continued, saying, "The positive value of gender-affirming care for youth and adults is not in scientific or medical dispute."

[…]

The American Conservative senior editor Rod Dreher suggested Levine was a fascist, tweeting, "When fascism comes to America, it will be under the guises of Health and Safety."

Claremont Institute Lincoln fellow Terry Schilling argued that Levine’s statements were worse than communist propaganda. He wrote, "Even the communists didn’t promote evil like this. They at least lied to make themselves look more competent. This is something different. They are still in the destruction phase of this nation. They know the opposition is strong and that’s why it needs to be shut down."

After seeing the clip, Christian pastor Timothy Alden remarked, "Evil is an understatement."

And you wonder why conservatives still think we are evil after reading this BS that is reputed by every medical and psychiatric association in the nation.

~~~~~~~

They even warp the definition of Fascism, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary,

1: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

2: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control



Monday, December 26, 2022

Been There Done That Before.

I remember watching the evening news with Walter Cronkite and seeing the Sen. McCarthy at the hearings House Un-American Activities Committee… Are you now or have you ever been a homosexual?

From the NSA website...

When people think of the civil service of the late 1940s and early 1950s, thoughts often go to the efforts of Senator Joseph P. McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to uncover communists and subversives in the Federal Government. While it is true that there were communist spies in the Federal Government, the simultaneously running, but distinct, efforts by McCarthy and the HUAC were primarily motivated by a desire for attention-grabbing headlines and political wins. Known as the Red Scare, this episode was intertwined with what later became known as the “Lavender Scare.” The Lavender Scare was defined by the intense anxiety of elected officials and the public that there were homosexuals employed in the civil service. Some believed homosexuals might be easily recruited by foreign intelligence services and communists or be easily blackmailed. Others believed they were simply unsuitable for government employment and a threat to traditional American values.

During that time many states passed constitutional amendments, which are still on the books, banning gays and lesbians from government jobs. And now history is repeating itself.

California tried to ban gay teachers in 1978. Educators and activists who fought back fear history may be repeating itself.
Insider
By Erin Snodgrass
December 24, 2022


Larry Allegre always knew he wanted to be an educator. It was a simple enough goal to achieve, he figured — that is, if he kept secret an integral part of his identity: He was gay. 

But amid the increasingly-hostile national attitude toward gay rights in the late 1970s, an ominous wrench was thrown into Allegre's carefully-laid professional plans.

State Sen. John Briggs, a conservative California lawmaker from Allegre's native Orange County, introduced a ballot initiative in 1977 to be put to a referendum in the upcoming state election that would bar gay men and lesbian women from working in California's public schools. 

"I wanted to be a teacher, to go into education," Allegre told Insider. "But I certainly wasn't going to do that if it was going to be illegal for me."

[…]

The Briggs Initiative was the first effort to restrict gay rights through a statewide ballot measure, but it would not be the last. And the bigoted aim at the heart of the initiative would continue to rear its ugly head time and time again in the succeeding years — most recently with the introduction of Florida's "Don't Say Gay" legislation that sparked national outcry earlier this year.

[...]

Inspired by emerging anti-gay activist Anita Bryant's overwhelming success in repealing a Florida ordinance that would have prevented discrimination based on sexual orientation, Briggs sponsored his own similarly-minded initiative, seemingly hoping it might be his star-maker.

It was Republicans back then pushing the anti-LGBTQ laws and they are doing it again!

And this lead the way for Harvey Milk’s famous “Come, come out” speech.

"The LGBT community is not monolithic, but when it comes to attacks like this, they tend to come together," Ammiano said.


The fight against Briggs coalesced in San Francisco, a hotbed of political activism and social justice where professional activists, politicians, and educators came together to form what would become the "No On 6" campaign.

[…]

They were vindicated, Ammiano said. But the whole affair had left a lingering fear throughout the community. 

"If it could happen here in California, even being put on a ballot, then this fight is not over," he said. "This struggle is not over."

And that leads us to today when it is all being repeated!

Florida lawmakers revived old tactics in a similar ploy this year

Even after Briggs' defeat, both Ammiano and Allegre would go on to face instances of homophobia throughout their decades-long educational careers. But it wasn't until 2022, when Florida lawmakers introduced contentious legislation that banned public school instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in primary school classrooms, that they witnessed such a direct parallel to their own battle against Briggs.

"It is frustrating and upsetting and gets you angry when you see all this resurfacing," Ammiano said. "But it's also a good heads up. You can't really be comfortable on these issues of social justice and equality."

The Republicans are doing it again and for the same reason… votes! And Power! So they can gerrymander voting districts, and so they can pack the courts with judges who put the Bible (As they interpret it.) before the Constitution.

We did it once and we can stop them again in the voting booth but we need allies. We must build coalitions to stop the Republican juggernaut.

It Is All About Playing To The Audience

You know it is all about playing to his base and he just doesn’t care about how it affects other people.

DeSantis’ culture wars grabbed headlines — and legal challenges that cost $17 million
Miami Herald via Yahoo News
By Mary Ellen Klas
December 22, 2022

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political strategy has won national attention for his ability to shrewdly select culture war issues and use a compliant Florida Legislature to advance them.

But while the agenda has drawn more than 15 lawsuits, it has so far yielded few legal victories, and cost Florida taxpayers nearly $17 million in legal fees to date.

In case after case, courts have scaled back, thrown out, or left in legal limbo rules and laws that impose restrictions on social media giants, limit voting, curb gender-related healthcare, influence speech in the workplace, college campuses and classrooms and create new crimes for peaceful protests.

He knows that these “laws” will not pass Constitutional muster but they passed anyway. Why?

But DeSantis’ critics say the governor’s win-loss record is irrelevant to him. They see his strategy as one intended to garner headlines and use the state treasury to pursue performative policies intended to appeal to voters in the Republican base as he positions himself to run for president in 2024.

“Most people who go to court actually want to win,’’ said Bob Jarvis, a professor of law at Nova Southeastern University. “That is not DeSantis’ objective. He is all about winning the news cycle.”

That’s why. For political gain. Our lives are having forced to go through puberty and doing irrevocable harm why? So some guy can run for the presidency.

Teachers are leaving their jobs because because of the muzzles to the First Amendment and as a result children are being packed in over crowded classrooms, why? So DeSantis can be our next president.

“As with Trump, DeSantis’s political aggressiveness wins him admirers,’’ wrote staff writer Madeleine Kearns in November. “The tactics that some conservatives consider morally or philosophically dubious appear only to intensify his popularity.”

[…]

As a result, the carefully chosen fights garner DeSantis “an enormous amount of attention on right wing media, which is more radicalized than the conservative leaning public.’’

And it is only going to get worst as conservatives well off seniors flock to Florida for the sun and as a tax haven and living in their gated communities. 


Then we have those who want to control our minds by telling us what we can and cannot read.

Petition opposes change to Rapides library policy on books dealing with gender identity
Alexandria Town Talk
By Melinda Martinez
December 22, 2023


A group has formed in opposition to a proposal to prohibit content referencing sexual orientation or gender identity from the Rapides Parish Library’s children’s collection and is circulating a petition against the measure.

The petition started circulating late Friday evening and can be found at fightforthefirst.org.

Library Board member James Morgan proposed the measure during a public hearing Dec. 13, seeking to amend the system's policy dealing with books and other materials available to children preschool to age 17. The board is set to vote on the measure Jan. 17.

It seems like if one person complains they pull the books from the shelf but if dozens of people say that they want the book, they are ignored.

On its website, the group lists about half a dozen reasons it contends people should sign the petition. Among them:

  • The policy change's true intent is to marginalize the LGBTQ+ community.
  • Books should be discussed on their merits. Broad categories of books should not be banned as “obscene” without a critical look by librarians.
  • The proposed policy revision is vague and does not define specific words that would be critical to enforcing it.
  • Such restrictive policies take away parental rights to decide what their children read.

It is all about politics and rallying their base.

“I feel that it is a concerted effort to attack library freedom," Howell said. "We have a staff of professional librarians so it seems completely redundant and completely at odds with the rest of the library’s policies, which focus on openness of information and availability rather than restrictions.”

It is all about marginalizing us. It is all about making us the scapegoats of the evils in today’s society.

They say it is about “Saving the Children” but in reality it creates open season on us. Bias crimes against us has increased, bullying in schools have increased against us, and discrimination against us has also increased… where is “Save the Children” when it comes to us?

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Merry Christmas!

Peace On Earth and Goodwill To All
Earthrise (NASW Photo) Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

It this time of year that we reflect on all that has happened this past year and to give thanks. However, for many it is not a time to rejoice, it is a time of loneliness, their families may have moved and left them behind, their family or spouse might have pasted away leaving them without any close relatives or their children might be at their in-laws for this holiday, for whatever the reason, it is a lonely time.
Many of us instead will be separated from our because of bias we are being separated because of COVID. 

Some maybe quarantined, some out of worry for catching or spreading the virus, so for the travel bans in their states and some because they don’t have any homes to go to for the holidays. For whatever the reason this is going to be again a very different Christmas from all the others.

But still for many in the LGBT community it is an especially lonely time,
they might not have seen their family since they came out to them. Their families and children have disowned them. Sometimes when we do attend the gathering, we feel like outcasts, like the square peg in the round hole, we just don’t fit in, we are tolerated when we bring our partners or ourselves to the table.

This year I will be cooking a turkey breast and having some friends over because it is getting harder for me to drive at night and going down and back to New Jersey in one day is also getting to be too much. Getting a hotel room will be hard because I would have to drive over strange roads in the dark so I decided to stay home and have some friends over for the day.

Thursday, I met my brother and sister-in-law for lunch as they drove down to my niece's house in New Jersey and from their after the holidays they will be heading down to Florida for they winter. Every year they turn into "Snowbirds" and they will be coming back in the spring.

So let us open our hearts and doors to them and think of them this holiday season, give them a call, have a Zoom get-together or drop them a Christmas card, let them know that they are remembered.

I leave you with this Christmas song by Nat King Cole - Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.



An American traditional songs...







And a cute little video...

Saturday, December 24, 2022

Saturday 9: Happy Holidays!

Sam’s SATURDAY 9: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

1. As you can see, when Sam Winters was a little girl, she loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. If you could ask Santa for anything at all, right now, what would it be?

Good health and peace on earth.

2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there?

Nice, always nice. I think about others, wear a mask, and get my shots.

3. Are you traveling this Christmas? If so, are you going by car, plane or train?

Nope, I invited a few friends over for Christmas dinner. New Jersey is getting to far to travel in one day and I am cutting back on night driving.

4.  Did you send any presents out of town? If so, what was it and how far did it travel?

Nope, not a one.

5. Did you buy yourself a gift this year?

Yes, two jars of Jake & Amos Pickled Sweet Watermelon Rind, a tin of Danish Butter Cookies, and a bag of Italian Wedding Cookies.

6. What's your favorite holiday-themed movie or TV special? Have you seen it yet this year?

The Wheel of Time… Oh wait that’s not a holiday theme show, but it is the closest to any holiday-themed shows that I will watch.

7. Which do you prefer: a hollow chocolate Santa or a chunk of fudge?

Neither… they are way too sweet.

8. Close your eyes and tell us the first carol that comes to mind.

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.

9. What's your favorite winter beverage?

Hot mulled cider with a dash of rum.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us next week for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!"


Every Christmas The Sear’s Holiday Catalog Arrived.

Millions of children they rushes to the toy section to dream of what they would find under the tree on Christmas morning.

But for me it was to dream of Christmas dresses and shoes and dolls and doll houses. What about you? What did you dream of what the catalog arrived?

Reprint from a 2010 post on December 24th:

My Story Part 57 – Doors

Today I am writing about doors, all type of doors and the first doors that I am writing about is the standard ordinary doors that you walk through. It was interesting to have a gentleman open a door for me, I was awash with feeling. Everything from “wow this is nice” to “what have I done to deserve this treatment” to “why am I being treated special”. A couple of times it has been a little scary, one time a guy read me as a trans-woman and just let the door close in my face. Sometimes it can be comical, like the time a guy also read me as trans, and his jaw hit the ground, the look on his face was priceless.

Another type of door where women get preferential treatment that I won’t complain about is at an intersection with stop signs. I have noticed a slight, I emphasis slight, preferential treatment at a four way stop. I have noticed that guys tend to wave women ahead of them in the intersection more so than with men. However, with parking spaces it is first come no matter what your gender.

An internal door for me opened up, I am more outgoing. I have nothing to hide anymore; I am not worried that my deep dark terrible secret will come out. Before I transitioned, I had a limited number of friends, now I have a broad circle of friends. From birth until my fifties, I very rarely set foot outside of my town and when I did so it was mainly because of work. I never went to a play or out to dinner with friends. All my life I only knew white, middle class Christians, now I know people from all social-ethnic backgrounds. I know writers, actors, playwrights, photographers and television producers. My life is so much richer in knowing them. One of the other doors that opened was that of the world, I never traveled outside of town; when I came out, I started going to Provincetown MA, for Fantasia Fair, to Boston for First Event. I never went to Hartford; the last time that I went in to Hartford was when my father use to work there and he retired in 1974. Now I am there on a weekly basis.

Other darker doors have opened, I never knew anyone who had attempted or committed suicide, I never knew anyone who had to make their living off the streets, and I never knew anyone who had HIV/AIDS. I never knew anyone who was assaulted because of who they are or fired from a job or thrown out of a restaurant. Sadly, I do now. The anonymous commenter who left a comment two days ago criticizing me for using the work hate, I bet he doesn’t know any of these people or he only sees them in some abstract forms. My field instructor asked me when I was starting my first internship what was my support system, I didn’t know what she meant, I do now and I had to use it several times since. This year I was attending a meeting with the Court Support Services Division and they were looking for safe houses for teenagers who were forced into white slavery. They had about 45 runaway teenagers who were kidnapped from the Bridgeport bus station, forced addicted to heroin and then pimped out that the CSSD needed to find safe house for them. That meeting I will never forget. It opened my eyes to side of Connecticut that I never knew existed.

Since I have come out, many doors have opened for me, both good and bad and I have a favor to ask of you. Open your door to someone who may not have a family to go for whatever the reason this holiday season. I am one of the lucky ones; I will be with my brother’s family.


Since I wrote that back in 2010 many other doors have opened for me. One that I am most proud of is being appointed to the Governor’s Hate Crime Advisory Council, I feel humbled to be have been appointed on it. Since I wrote that I graduated with my MSW and became the Executive Director of the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition (CTAC) and that opened many other doors for me including being appointed to the Legislative LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network. And now I am opening the door on LGBTQ+ seniors.

Friday, December 23, 2022

Another Case Of The Law Doesn’t Apply To Us.

You sign a contract to train healthcare workers, you hire staff and then the contract is yanked away from you claiming that you didn’t hire the workers you were suppose to hire.
South Dakota Searchlight
By John Hult
December 22, 2022

A transgender advocacy organization plans to sue the state of South Dakota for civil rights violations over Gov. Kristi Noem’s abrupt cancellation of a health care facilitation contract with the group.
Brendan Johnson, a former U.S. district attorney who works for the law firm Robins Kaplan, told South Dakota Searchlight that his firm will represent The Transformation Project at no cost in a civil action against the state.

[...]

The group’s claim originates with the contract cancellation, Johnson said, but “it’s not a contract dispute.”

“This is about violating federal law, equal protection,” Johnson said. “You cannot discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. We believe that’s in violation of agreements between the state of South Dakota and the federal government that provided these funds.”

The Sioux Falls-based nonprofit was awarded about $136,000 in federal funds to hire and train a community health worker to help connect members of the LGBTQ community to physical and mental health care. The funds, dispensed by the state, were earmarked by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for the hiring of community health workers to serve rural areas and marginalized communities.
How did this come about?

Simply a right-wing conservative group complained, so like a trained Pavlov dog Gov. Noem’s office ordered the contract pulled.
The Freedom Caucus, a coalition of South Dakota lawmakers aligned with the Freedom Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives, issued a statement Monday that praised Noem’s decision to cut the contract. It also called on the South Dakota attorney general to investigate The Transformation Project and Sanford Health, which is set to host a Gender Identity Summit next month, for “promoting child abuse.”
In the law suit they claim that,
“The facts will show that The Transformation Project did not violate its contract with the state of South Dakota,” Johnson said. “This was a decision based on politics, not the law. We applaud the strength and dignity of the LGBTQ community, and we will aggressively defend their right to access health care and the vital services provided by The Transformation Project, including mental health and suicide prevention services.”
[…]
“This is incredibly unfair to one of our most vulnerable populations in South Dakota,” Johnson said. “This will be a long and expensive fight. This is going to cost the state of South Dakota a great deal in legal fees.”
The pogrom against us continues, they don’t care about the harm they are doing to one of the vulnerable communities in the nation they just want to score political points with their base.



Congress just issued a report detailing that we are still being discriminated against… No s*** Sherlock!
“The fight for equality in this country will not be over until we address all of these disparities and create true equity for the LGBTQ+ community,” says U.S. Rep. David Cicilline.
The Advocate
By Trudy Ring
December 19, 2022

LGBTQ+ Americans continue to face discrimination, violence, and other difficulties in many aspects of life, according to the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus’s Inaugural Report on the Condition of LGBTQ+ People in the United States.

“LGBTQ+ people deserve the same opportunities to thrive as their non-LGBTQ+ peers. The data presented in this report shows, however, that the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people are vastly different than those of our straight and cisgender neighbors,” U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, chair of the caucus, said in a press release. “With the increasing rise of violence against the LGBTQ+ community and the growing number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills being introduced in state legislatures and in Congress, it is especially critical that all levels of government work to ensure true lived equality for LGBTQ+ people. This includes by finally enacting the Equality Act into law to ensure comprehensive explicit nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people. Our ability to thrive in this country should not be limited due to our sexual orientation or gender identity. The fight for equality in this country will not be over until we address all of these disparities and create true equity for the LGBTQ+ community.”

The report, released Friday, covers four areas: education, economic security, health care, and housing. “These four areas, though not comprehensive of the LGBTQ+ experience, are critical to people’s wellbeing and help shine a light on the experiences of LGBTQ+ people in today’s society,” says Cicilline’s introduction to the report.
I think we know these already, we face it every day firsthand. 
The document concludes with a summary of actions taken in Congress to better the lives of LGBTQ+ people, such as passing the Respect for Marriage Act and legislation aimed at improving the collection of data on hate crimes. The Equality Act, which would ban anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in employment, housing, credit, public accommodations, and more, has been passed twice by the House but remains stalled in the Senate.
We know that it is not going to move forward with the Republicans controlling the House.

Marriage Equality Is Not A Settled Issue

It is a burr under the Republican's saddle. A festering sore for them.

First a little background;

Cass County Republicans censure Senator Todd Young after vote on marriage bill
Kokomo Tribune
By Kirsten Adair CNHI News Indiana
December 9, 2022


The Cass County Republican Committee sent a letter of censure to denounce Senator Todd Young this week after Young voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act, a federal bill that validates same-sex and interracial marriages in the U.S.

According to the U.S. Senate’s website, a censure is meant to express disapproval of a senator’s actions but does not involve any formal action or expulsion from office. However, censures can cause problems with a senator’s relationship with constituents and within congress.

“Your decision elicited feelings of anger, disbelief and even a sense of betrayal,” said the letter, which was posted on Twitter by CNN Reporter Melanie Zanona. “We are not just fiscal conservatives, but social conservatives as well.”

The letter was sent to Young and other Indiana Republican county chairs by Cass County Republican Committee Chairman David Richey. Richey, who worked with other Cass County Republicans to draft the letter, stated in an email posted with the letter that Cass County Republicans encourage other committees to write their own letters to Young if they are upset about his vote.

After all these years the Republicans are still having a hissy fit over marriage equality, this should tell you what their priority will be when they take over the House next month… not the economy but rather anti-trans bills, anti-marriage equality bills, and anti-abortion bills. And also investing Biden and his son*.

LGBTQ community, others respond to Cass County Republicans' letter
Pharos-Tribune
By Josh Flynn Staff reporter
December 20, 2022


There are still struggles ahead. They see that in the recent letter the Cass County Republican Party sent to state senator Todd Young, censuring him for voting in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act.

In their letter, county Republicans said same sex marriage devalued the family and would lead to churches being punished for their religious beliefs. The Respect for Marriage Act also protects those religious beliefs.

“The Republican party of Indiana endorsed you running as a Republican senator from our great state with the belief that we could entrust you with representing out values,” the letter from the Cass County Republicans said. “On this matter (regarding same-sex marriage), you had previously stated that you felt matters like this were best handled by the states, not in the federal venue. Now we find — right after we endorsed you and voted for you in November — that you’ve changed your mind.”

I went to the party at Real Art Ways celebrating ten years of marriage equality and I also was at the celebration when the law was passed… do you know what was different between the two celebrations? At the ten year anniversary there were a lot of ten year olds running around.

The Democrats said in response;

Lita Rouser, a member of the Cass County Democratic Party, asked why the Republicans didn’t instead direct their anger toward issues such as Indiana’s high maternal mortality and infant mortality rates or the state’s water pollution issues.

“Did they write a letter to Todd Young about these issues, too?” she asked. “Or is it just the two guys down the street getting married that bothers them? Hoosiers overwhelmingly support marriage equality. The Republican Party should get out of people’s bedrooms and get to work on the real problems facing Hoosiers.”

It is all smoke and mirrors for the Republicans to distract the voters from the real issues.

~~~~

*My guess is that when they bring these up items in the House for a vote it will not pass because of Republican defectors all it will take is five Republicans to say enough is enough and vote against the Republican leaders.

Thursday, December 22, 2022

The Law Is The Law, Or Is It?

It seems like if you are a conservative you don’t believe in following the law. There have been a number of Supreme Court cases saying you have to provide a safe learning environment and you cannot discriminate, but…

Florida school districts refuse to defend LGBTQ+ kids | Editorial
By Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board
Orlando Sentinel
Dec 21, 2022


Across Florida, support for LGBTQ+ students is crumpling like gift-bag tissue paper, as state education officials demand that school districts erase protections — many just a few years old, adopted after long and sometimes contentious public debate and heartfelt testimony by students and parents pleading that schools be safe for all students.

The changes LGBTQ+ students and families asked for might have seemed radical at first to school board members — the right to be addressed by the gender they identified with, and use appropriate bathroom and locker-room facilities; the right to be protected from bullies; the chance to use texts and read library books that are inclusive of their experience; the assurance that they have access to the same counseling services and confidentiality that protect heterosexual students.

Yet in district after the district, Floridians saw compassion and dignity win. Even the most conservative school districts — places like deep-red Flagler County — adopted protections to ensure that the fundamental rights of LGBTQ+ students weren’t violated.

This morning I wrote about a case involving the Supreme Court case of Bostock v. Clayton County where the Supreme Court, the highest court in the nation, the court all other courts have to follow ruled that Title IX applies to LGBTQ+ people.

But the Florida Department of Education and school boards seem to think that they are above the law!

There’s no doubt that these students are now under determined attack by state leaders. As reported by the Florida Phoenix, the state Department of Education sent out letters last month demanding that 10 school districts across the state amend policies that were too supportive of students’ rights to privacy and respectful treatment. This time, the list of districts includes Alachua, Broward, Brevard, Duval, Hillsborough, Indian River, Leon, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, which operates as an independent district.

[…]

State officials have been harassing some districts for months over policies related to gender-divergent or non-heterosexual students. That’s a sharp change in and of itself: previously, school districts (which are governed by duly elected school boards) were largely responsible for interpreting and implementing state law on their own.

It’s a shameful display of top-down bigotry, and exactly what many feared would happen after Gov. Ron DeSantis arm-twisted lawmakers into passing the hateful legislation (HB 1557), which incorporates deliberately vague and over-broad language meant to stifle discussion of sexuality at all grade levels. During the session, the bill came to be known as “Don’t Say Gay,” but it’s clear now that the moniker missed the mark. The state is directing much of its ire toward policies intended to protect gender-divergent students — not just classroom discussion, but anti-bullying measures as well. That aligns with DeSantis’ obsessive (and deceptive) insistence that there’s a pervasive, perverted industry flourishing in Florida aimed at “mutilating” very young children. Previously, he and his official communications director insisted that anyone opposed to HB 1577 supported “grooming” small children for sexual abuse.

This is what happened in the 1930s the Brownshirts attacked LGBTQ burning their books, making it a crime to be LGBTQ+. In Russia today they passed anti-LGBTQ+ laws, and other authoritarian governments in eastern Europe they prosecuting us. Now we have a politician who hopes to become president on the backs of trans and LGB children.

The U.S. Department of Education has on their website,

The mission of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence through vigorous enforcement of civil rights in our nation's schools. To serve this mission, OCR enforces civil rights laws to protect all students from unlawful discrimination and harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and age. This includes students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, asexual, intersex, nonbinary, and individuals who identify their sexual orientation or gender identity in other ways (LGBTQI+).

Bullying, harassment, exclusion from school activities, and other forms of discrimination can interfere with LGBTQI+ students’ access to a safe and inclusive school environment. Federal law, however, requires schools to ensure that LGBTQI+ students and other students have equal access to all aspects of a school’s programs and activities.

In the case of Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board the ACLU wrote,

The Supreme Court today declined to hear Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, allowing lower court decisions in support of transgender students to stand.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit have both ruled that the school board violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause by prohibiting Grimm from using the same restrooms as other boys and forcing him to use separate restrooms.

[…]

Josh Block, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union LGBTQ & HIV Project, had the following response:

“This is the third time in recent years that the Supreme Court has allowed appeals court decisions in support of transgender students to stand. This is an incredible victory for Gavin and for transgender students around the country. Our work is not yet done, and the ACLU is continuing to fight against anti-trans laws targeting trans youth in states around the country.”

But even with all these court rulings states like Florida and Texas just thumb their noses at the law to further their political agenda.

I Hope He Knows What He Is Doing

I hope he knows what he is doing because it not it could be a disaster for us!

Biden Admin Doesn't Appeal Texas Anti-Trans Ruling; Ken Paxton's Happy
The administration likely has another strategy in the works to assure that employers don't discriminate against trans workers, legal experts say.
The Advocate
By Trudy Ring
December 19, 2022


President Joe Biden’s administration is not appealing a ruling by an anti-LGBTQ+ federal judge that certain types of workplace discrimination against transgender people are legal in Texas.

That doesn’t mean the administration accepts the ruling, and legal experts say it likely has another strategy in the works, The Dallas Morning News reports. But for now, federal government officials aren’t responding to queries, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who brought the lawsuit that resulted in the ruling, is touting the lack of an appeal as a victory.

In October, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, ruled that the Biden administration’s guidance on implementation of the Supreme Court’s Bostock v. Clayton County decision is overly broad. The Bostock ruling, issued in 2020, decreed that anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination is sex discrimination and therefore illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Kacsmaryk objected to the guidance, saying the Bostock ruling applies only to hiring and firing practices and doesn’t mean, as the guidance had it, that companies have to allow workers to use the restrooms corresponding to their gender identity or dress according to that identity, nor do they have to use employee’s preferred pronouns.

I’m not a lawyer I’ve only been around them a lot but I read the Supreme Court ruling and see what you think? This is from Oyze which is made up of Cornell’s Legal Information Institute (LII), Justia, and Chicago-Kent College of Law…

Discrimination on the basis of homosexuality or transgender status requires an employer to intentionally treat employees differently because of their sex—the very practice Title VII prohibits in all manifestations.

So to me it seems like what Judge Kacsmaryk said is totally BS because the Supreme Court said “sex” includes us! It covers us broadly!

And look at the who appointed the judge and what he did before he was a federal judge, do you think he is a “little” biased?

Kacsmaryk, who was previously an attorney with right-wing legal group First Liberty Institute, has issued other ultraconservative rulings. He recently held that a federal program providing grants for voluntary and confidential family planning services violated parental rights because the services are available to adolescents. He also blocked the Biden administration’s effort to end the “remain in Mexico” policy, which was started under Trump and requires some non-Mexican asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their cases are heard. Texas and Missouri have filed suits seeking to retain the policy.

And since I wrote this on Monday the judge is again in the news.

Federal judge rules against HHS program allowing teens confidential birth control
The Hill
By Nathaniel Weixel
December 21, 2022


A federal judge in Texas set aside a rule allowing teenagers to access birth control from providers participating in a federal family planning program without their parents’ permission.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on Tuesday likely means that teenagers who receive care through the Title X family planning program will no longer be allowed to do so confidentially. 

Kacsmaryk ruled that the Title X program, which provides free and confidential contraception, cancer screenings and other services to millions of low-income individuals, violates the constitutional right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, Title X clinics are often the only ongoing source of health care and health education for the people who use them.

Kacsmaryk, nominated by former President Trump in 2017 and confirmed in 2019, is a former attorney for a Christian legal advocacy group who helped businesses fight against contraceptive mandates.

This judge puts the Bible before the Constitution.

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

What We Are Up Against

Bias crimes are increasing and so are armed protests.

There Have Been 141 Protests & Threats Against Drag Events This Year
Some of the incidents were violent, and the largest number took place in Texas, according to an updated report by GLAAD.
The Advocate
By Trudy Ring
December 17, 2022


At least 141 protests and threats against drag events across 47 states have happened in the U.S. this year, according to research by GLAAD and Equality Texas.

These include incidents during Pride celebrations “and false rhetoric against performers deployed in campaign ads for the midterm elections,” the research report says. “The analysis shows increasingly violent rhetoric and incidents as the year progressed, including armed white supremacists demonstrating in Texas and the firebombing of a Tulsa donut shop that had hosted a drag event in October. Equality Texas documented additional targeted events throughout the year, including an armed demonstration and confrontation in San Antonio.”

Texas has the dubious distinction of leading all states with 20 documented incidents. North Carolina was next with 10, followed by Illinois with eight, Tennessee and California with six each, and Georgia with five. There were no incidents reported in three states — South Dakota, Rhode Island, and West Virginia — and the District of Columbia. Some may have taken place, but they weren’t covered by the media.

[…]

In addition to the firebombing in Tulsa, the violent occurrences included armed protesters threatening events in Idaho, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Nevada. In Eugene, those who objected to a drag performance threw smoke bombs and rocks. In South Carolina, there was a bomb threat against a restaurant hosting a drag brunch, along with threats to kill the performers.

We have seen two protests here in Connecticut and the around the northeast there were 16 other protests, their animosity towards us knows no bounds.

Down in Texas the school board pulled all the LGBTQ+ books from the library and it caught the attention of the feds. NBC News reported that,

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights notified Granbury school officials on Dec. 6 that it had opened the investigation following a July complaint by the ACLU, which accused the district of violating a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender. The ACLU complaint was based largely on an investigation published in March by NBC News, ProPublica and the Tribune that revealed that Granbury’s superintendent, Jeremy Glenn, instructed librarians to remove books dealing with sexual orientation and people who are transgender.

[…]

The comments, combined with the district’s subsequent decision to remove dozens of library books pending a review, fostered a “pervasively hostile” environment for LGBTQ students, the ACLU wrote in its complaint. Chloe Kempf, an ACLU attorney, said the Education Department’s decision to open the investigation into Granbury ISD signals that the agency is concerned about what she described as “a wave” of anti-LGBTQ policies and book removals nationally.

“In this case it was made very clear, because the superintendent kind of said the quiet part out loud,” Kempf said in an interview. “It’s pretty clear that that kind of motivation is animating a lot of these policies nationwide.”

And what is the message it is sending the children?

All of that — including the fact that Glenn has never apologized or walked back his comments — has created an unwelcoming environment for LGBTQ students in the Granbury district, the ACLU argued in its complaint.

“These comments, combined with the book removals, really send a message to LGBTQ students in the districts that: ‘You don’t belong here. Your existence is shameful. It should be censored,’” Kempf said.

This is why we need to vote the Republicans out of Congress, it they ever get a trifecta with the Congress and the presidency we will be in deep doo doo. They will pack the courts with evangelical Christians and pass anti-LGBTQ+ laws, and I wouldn’t doubt they would repeal the marriage equality bill that just passed.

The Christian Science Monitor (Don’t let the name bias you, they are very liberal.) had this to say about what the future holds for us. In the article Curious about US trend toward LGBTQ equal rights? Look at Colorado by Sarah Matusek she writes,

Now justices are revisiting free speech in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, whose Colorado plaintiff Lorie Smith, a graphic artist, is the owner and founder of 303 Creative. She would like to begin designing custom wedding websites for clients, but based on her Christian conviction that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, she would also like to be able to legally decline creating sites with same-sex marriage messages. Her legal team argues that the Colorado public-accommodation law is censoring her speech.

[...]

Critics see a Pandora’s box ready to burst. The pendulum of Colorado state law has “swung in favor of LGBT people,” says Scott Skinner-Thompson, associate professor at the University of Colorado Law School. “The First Amendment in particular is now being weaponized to limit those protections.”

They are using religion to hide their bigotry behind it, can you imagine if they said it was their religious  belief that Blacks can be refused service or that a Jew or Muslim can be refuse to be rented an apartment what an outcry there would be but somehow discrimination against us is okay.

The Grio wrote...

The states that saw the most threats and demonstrations against drag events in 2022 were Texas with 20, North Carolina with 10, Illinois with eight, Tennessee and California with six each and Georgia with five.

[…]

Violence or the use of weapons was present in numerous occurrences involving extremist organizations, including the Proud Boys, Patriot Front and local white nationalist groups.

Someone sent a bomb threat via email to a South Carolina local news station, alleging that there were multiple bombs put at a restaurant hosting a drag brunch and that they would murder the performers and patrons if discovered.

[…]

In Ohio, a church hosted a drag story hour that was protested by about 50 Proud Boys extremists wearing full face masks, helmets, flak jackets and long weapons. In Arlington, Texas, alleged Proud Boys obstructed sidewalks at many LGBTQ-inclusive events while falsely accusing participants of being “pedophiles.”

In Katy, Texas, armed protesters disrupted a drag bingo fundraiser by saluting in the Nazi fashion. Local authorities in Memphis, Tennessee, said Proud Boys were among the armed protesters who showed up before a scheduled drag show at the Museum of Science and Industry in September, prompting the last-minute cancellation of the event.

A letter-to-the- editor in the Columbus Dispatch by Rev. Neil Elliott an Episcopal priest and biblical scholar wrote,

The bedrock principle is that law enforcement must protect free speech.

When a “heckler” so threatens the safety of a speaker that authorities don’t think they can perform that duty and cancel or close down the speech event, the heckler enjoys a “veto” enforced by the authorities themselves.

But this is not a “bedrock principle." It is a fallback measure required when the police have failed to protect free speech.

Hoffman is quite right to express alarm that extremists threatening violence — like the heavily armed military cosplayers who showed up to intimidate the “Holi-drag Storytime” performers and attendees — are becoming increasingly normalized.

In this particular case, police did not close down the event (as in Hoffman’s “heckler’s veto” scenario); the organizers did — after what some of them described, with frustration, as the “casual, distant acknowledgment” of their very real concerns by police.

Officials have denied this characterization.

But they have had to defend video of a police officer high-fiving armed Proud Boys as a “dialogue” officer just doing his job. (Dispatch columnist Tom Decker suspected the “hint of a smile” on the cop’s face belied that easy out.)

The Rev. Neil Elliott, Ph.D., is an Episcopal priest and biblical scholar. As Episcopal chaplain at the University of Minnesota, he and other ministry colleagues were recognized with the university Equity and Diversity Office’s Breaking the Silence Award in 2004.

No video has yet emerged of police officers offering cheery greetings to storytellers in drag — ostensibly and legally the people they are sworn to protect.

I am not holding my breath.

[…]

What has characterized actual fascism and totalitarianism historically is a close tacit coordination between police forces and organized civilian gangs who enjoy relatively more freedom to harass, intimidate, and terrorize a targeted minority.

The Proud Boys are in this sense most like the Brown Shirts in Nazi Germany — though without their ability to coordinate outfits.

Free speech doesn’t involve intimidation by armed protesters! As the writer said this is something out of the 1930s.

I was watching a Sunday morning talking heads program and one of the pundits said that the pendulum will take about 10 to 20 years to swing back in our favor. I don’t know about you but I don’t have 10 or 20 years to wait.